A Scream in the Forest

"This place is so dark. Arthur, can't you lit these torches or something?" Hily said.

The secret tunnel Nefion showed them was pitch-black. It had torches attached to the wall, so Arthur grabbed three of them and lit them using his fire sword.

"Sooo much better. Now I can see if any bugs are crawling on me."

While Hily was excited to leave the palace, Jane was still shocked by everything that had happened. It would take her some time to recover, and Arthur would stay by her side to help her.

"When does this end? We've been walking for at least ten minutes, and it does not seem like it is near the end."

Hily had way less resistance than the rest of the group. That's why she was complaining.

"We will be out soon, don't worry. And it is a good thing the tunnel is big. We can get more distance from the palace," said Arthur.

The only thing they had to do was walk. Nefion was fighting against thousands to make sure they left the palace. If he heard these complaints, he would get angry.

"So how long until the port? Anyone knows for sure?"

Jane, quiet the entire way, said something to help them at last.

"It will take us two days by foot. I don't think we can get a carriage, because it is only forest until the port. And we can't steal the carriage of other merchants."

"Hm, it is not that far. Don't worry. We can camp in the woods and then continue the next day. They are behind us for a lot."

As they were speaking, light shone in their eyes. It was proof the way out was near, which relieved the trio. Walking inside a dark and narrow tunnel was not something comfortable to any of them.

~~~~

The fresh air, alongside a sweet breeze, touched their faces. Arthur saw countless trees, bushes, and birds flying above his head.

Unfortunately, he did not have the time to appreciate the view. The port was their destination, and they couldn't stop moving as someone was trying to get them.

"We should not use the road. It will be the first place they will be looking. And, if a merchant passes by us and goes to the palace, he'll remember where he saw us, and you know the rest,"

"The best place for us is to walk inside the forest, but not too far. It should be an ideal distance so we can still see the road."

Both Jane and Hily had zero experience in that field, so they let Arthur lead the way. Moving using the way Arthur said would slow them down, but it was the safest option.

The people from the palace would not be chasing them on foot. If they used the road blindly, they would be doomed.

It was a good thing the forest wasn't that dense. It was still harder to navigate on it when compared to the road, but it wasn't impossible.

Arthur led the way, opening the path for Jane and Hily. He had to scout possible enemies and cut some branches to avoid scratches.

Now and then, a bug would show up, making Jane and Hily scream.

"Ahhhh, get it out of me. Please, Arthur, cut it using your sword."

"How am I supposed to cut a tiny bug using a sword? I can but expect to lose an arm along with it."

"Noo. I still want my arm, damn it. Cast a fire and burn this thing."

"I don't see how burning you will be better than cutting it with a sword..."

~~~~

For the first few hours, nothing out of the ordinary happened. But as the sun set, Arthur heard a scream from deeper in the woods. It appeared someone was in danger. They had to camp for the night, so checking it would not affect them much.

"Let's go check it. Prepare to fight," said Arthur.

They turned right, walking deeper inside the woods. It was a more dense part, and without the sun, it was hard to see anything. But following the screams was something they could do, and they reached the source in no time.

It was a man and a woman fighting against three wolves. Not a common type of wolves, but a ferocious type changed by the mana in the atmosphere. It was a low-tier magical beast.

The man was fighting fiercely against the beats using a spear, while the woman was behind it casting divine spells. But even though their coordination while fighting was amazing, fighting three magical beasts was not an easy feat.

"Look, brother. Someone else is here. Will they help us?"

"Hey, you three. Please, help us."

Neither Arthur, Hily nor Jane dressed like mercenaries or thieves. That is why the man and the woman did not see them as bad people.

They exchanged gazes, and Arthur yelled, "We will help you. Hold on." Hily stayed behind as she had no way of helping in the fight. The only thing she could do was hope all of them would be okay.

Arthur rushed, wielding the sword Wisa gave him. Flames erupted from the sword, and the temperature of the surrounding area rose. Jane lost all of her magical weapons when Barion locked her, so she had to cast spells without the help of a conductor. Without a magical book or wand, the spell would be weaker. But that did not mean it wouldn't cause extreme damage, even more, the rare lightning spells from Jane.

She drew magical symbols using her index finger, and within three seconds, bolts of lightning attacked one of the wolves. The magical beast could not withstand the impact and was sent flying, hitting on a nearby tree.

Arthur was going toward the other wolf. But while the other got shot in the distance without being able to retaliate, this one was in melee combat, which was their expertise.

The wolf leaped toward Arthur, trying to bite him using his sharp teeth. It was a scary attack, given the fact the wolf had three times Arthur's size. But Arthur wouldn't back down from it. He focused on the enemy, trying to spot any weaknesses he could use. Arthur found one.

The wolf could not dodge while in midair, so Arthur chose of letting it bite his shoulder in exchange for a fatal blow. He ducked in, and the wolf's teeth pierced through his right shoulder. It hurt a lot, and Arthur wanted to scream right there.

Biting his lips to maintain the focus, Arthur could see that the wolf was above him with his jaw clenched on his shoulder. He focused all of his strength on that attack as he slashed his flaming sword, cutting the wolf in half.

It was instant death. Arthur then tossed the part that was biting his shoulder.

Everyone watched the scene with their mouths open. It happened so fast, yet Arthur was so decisive in it. For a moment, Jane got worried that something bad would happen to Arthur.

With two wolves dead, the other one that was staring at them got scared and ran away.

Arthur's shoulder was bleeding heavily after the fight, and the pain was almost unbearable. He could die of blood loss if nothing was done. But then, the woman they just saved, came to his rescue.

"Sir, I'm a practician of the Divine arts. Please, let me heal you."

She did not do the same movements as the mages did. There was no symbol drawn in the air or anything like that. The woman came closer to Arthur and started to recite a prayer. A light shone from her hands. She covered the wounded shoulder, and it slowly healed. The most urgent thing was to close the wound, and she managed to do that in a minute.

"This is incredible. Thank you." Arthur was grateful for her to heal his wounds.

"I'm Arthur. The purple-haired woman is Jane, and the black-haired is Hily. Nice to meet you two."

"I'm Aria, and he's Cedric, my brother."

Aria pointed at her brother, who waved in return and said, "Hello, nice to meet you."

"How did you guys end up in this situation?"

"Oh, it is a long story."

"Let us step up camp and use this wolf meat for good use."

Arthur and Cedric set up the camp for them. They built a campfire, and they had two tents nearby.

All of them were hungry, so it would be a shame to leave these wolves to rot. So, Hily and Arthur cleaned them. They were magical beasts, and most of them tasted good.

Piercing the sticks through the wolf meat and cooking it in the campfire with the moonlight bathing all of them. For a moment, Arthur forgot someone was trying to kill him.

"So, where are you guys heading?" Arthur bit and chewed a large piece of meat as he asked.

"We're trying to reach the port nearby. Do you know it?"

Arthur, Hily, and Jane exchanged glances.

"Oh, is that so?"

Perhaps Arthur found some new members for their party. But first, they had to know each other better.